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Posted January 27, 2013 12:02 am - Updated January 27, 2013 12:05 am

Our view: Picasso exhibit reflects city's growing sophistication

Look around St. Augustine and you’ll notice something pleasant happening. The city is getting more sophisticated, more in tune with our residents and our visitors, both of whom are evermore well educated and affluent.

In serving our elevated tastes, the refurbished St. Augustine Visitor Center is about to debut a Picasso exhibit never before seen in this country.

We sneaked in to see the exhibit, and it’s impressive, definitely worth seeing. When it opens Friday, you should drop by, too. It will be open through May 11.

The exhibit showcases 39 art pieces from the Picasso Foundation in Malaga, Spain. It focuses on 11 lithographs by Picasso of a bull’s profile, starting with a traditional image of a bull — at least as traditional as Picasso got — and ends with a simplified form, almost a stick figure of a bull. To set the stage, the exhibit is set as if it were in a bull-fighting arena.

The exhibit cost the city $100,000. Add security and marketing, the total cost will come to about $150,000. The city expects that admission fees will cover the cost, so that taxpayers won’t end up paying anything.

The city’s argument is that exhibits like this add to the quality of life for residents, give visitors a better experience and help drive customers to local businesses. Makes sense to us.

Some critics almost certainly will say the cost of exhibits and of upgrading security and air conditioning at the Visitor Center would have been better spent on things like refurbishing infrastructure in the neighborhoods.

To that we say, do both. Add elevated cultural offerings such as the Picasso exhibit, and improve the neighborhoods, as the city is doing now to replace pipes that have been spewing out rusty water.

The city staged the Picasso exhibit, and after it leaves here in May, it will go to other American cities, taking with it the staging and design created in St. Augustine by Dana Ste. Claire and others. And everywhere it appears, St. Augustine will get credit as the place where the exhibit was designed.

So, go see it. And when you do, take pride that you are a part of your hometown getting a little more sophisticated.